Megan Frogley

Megan Frogley is a master’s student in the Cultural Studies of Sport in Education (aligned with Critical Studies in Race and Gender) within the School of Education. She received her BA in Sport, Exercise and Physical Activity from the University of Durham in England in 2015, in addition to writing the graduate Dissertation of the Year and receiving the Durham Award for commitment to her university and local community engagement. Training through Teach First’s Leadership Development Program, she practiced as a high school English teacher in East London from 2015-2021 and the school’s Director for Health and Wellbeing before making the move to California to undertake graduate study at Berkeley.

Her research and professional interests are diverse, their themes including of education policy, teacher development, literacy and reading, LGBTQ+ and female equity and inclusion, and the sociology of sport in/and education. Her previous published work, entitled ‘Marvel, Machine, or Malnourished: Exploring the Sociology of the Body in Women’s Artistic Gymnastics (2018)’ leverages her unique frame of reference as an ex-gymnast and coach to critically examine female gymnasts’ relationship to their bodies, and how the subculture of elite gymnastics fed into healthy or damaging body perceptions or habits.

For her MA capstone thesis, Megan is blending her dual passions for sport and education. She aims to understand the current dialogue and NCAA policy surrounding transgender athlete inclusion in collegiate competition. In particular, she seeks to lift trans-athlete voices and experiences to the forefront of the debate, designed to educate readers in trans-issues and language, and critically examine the concepts of biological advantage and fair play as they relate to the organizational future of sport. Building on her previous work, she is now interested in feminist and Foucauldian interpretations of the body and its boundaries, examining how it intersects with presentations of gender and sexuality in a sport-education context.

Megan is passionate about teaching and connecting with students. During her time in the BSE, Megan hopes take on a GSI role to develop her own practice. Currently, she works as a Graduate Tutor with Cal’s student-athletes in the Athletic Study Center and is the lead Academic Advisor for Softball and Men’s and Women’s gymnastics teams for Spring 2022. One day, Megan aims to open and lead her own school, either in the US or the UK, leveraging new education technologies, diverse curricula, and principles of creativity, curiosity, and critical thinking.

Outside of the BSE, Megan loves to hike in California’s awesome nature, participate in anything sports or video games related, and hit up queer hotspots in San Francisco.